THIBODAUX, La. – A combined 22 runs on 21 hits lifted the Nicholls State University softball team to a doubleheader sweep over Alcorn State as the Colonels extended their winning streak to eight games with 10-4 and 12-1 (5 innings) victories on Tuesday at the Colonel Softball Complex.
With the sweep, Nicholls improved to 24-12 on the season while Alcorn State slipped to 9-21.
Danielle Phillips led the charge at the plate for the Colonels, finishing a perfect 6-for-6 with five runs scored and two RBIs.
Haley Parkerson added four hits and
Amanda Gianelloni finished with four as well and drove in five runs.
Nicholls will put its winning streak on the line this weekend against first-place McNeese State. The Cowgirls sit atop the Southland standings with an 11-1 record, while Nicholls is in second at 9-2. Friday's opener in Lake Charles will begin at 6 p.m.
Game 1 – Nicholls 10, Alcorn State 4 The Colonels cruised to an 8-0 lead after four innings before Alcorn State plated four runs in the fifth to avoid the mercy rule, but it was not enough as Nicholls took the opener, 10-4.
Taylor Hastings (1-0) picked up the win, tossing 4.1 innings with three earned runs on six hits. Hastings was dominate through four, but ran into trouble in the fifth as Alcorn State tallied five hits to plate four runs to extend the game.
Megan Landry came in with the bases loaded and one out, and retired the next two batters to keep the lead at 8-4.
The Colonels added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth before Landry went on to earn her first career save. She finished with five strikeouts in just 2.2 innings.
Nicholls scored two in the first, getting runs on an RBI groundout and a sacrifice fly. In the second, the Red and Gray went up 5-0 after a two-run triple by Parkerson and a run-scoring single by Phillips.
The scoring continued in the next two frames as the Colonels plated a run in the third on a double to left center by
Haley Stevenson. Nicholls added two more in the fourth on an error followed by a RBI single by Gianelloni.
Alcorn cut the lead in half in the fifth, helped by a two-run homer from Jessee Gresly. But the Colonels got two back in the sixth as Gianelloni scored on a wild pitch and
Brooke Morris singled home a run to make the final.
Phillips was 3-for-3 in the game, while Parkerson and Gianelloni added two hits each.
Game 2 – Nicholls 12, Alcorn State 1 (5 innings) The Colonels sent 13 batters to the plate in the first inning and brought home nine runs as they cruised to a 12-1 mercy rule victory in five innings.
Nicholls finished with 12 hits, scoring two runs in the third and one in the fourth. Landry (11-5) gave up two hits and a run in the first, her only blemishes for the game, and went on to fan five batters in 4.0 innings of work.
Jackie Johnson made her second appearance of the season in the circle, pitching a perfect fifth to end the night.
In the opening frame,
Alexis Huss and Parkerson each had an RBI single, Morris drove in two on a base hit and Gianelloni capped the scoring with a bases loaded double over the leftfield to drive in three.
Nicholls made the score 11-0 in third after scoring one on a
Kristen Ahearn single, and
Gretchen Morgan grounded out to second to bring home the other.
In the fourth, Phillips put a stamp on her perfect day at the plate with a RBI single to left center, which drove in Morris from second.
Landry gave way to Johnson in the fifth, who struck out two batters to close out the sweep.
Phillips once again led the team with a 3-for-3 outing, while Parkerson, Gianelloni and Morris tacked on two hits each.
